


I Didn't Know You Existed Until Now

by standupfuckingtall



Category: NLCS
Genre: F/F, NLCS - Freeform, irl lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-05-23 05:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6106516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/standupfuckingtall/pseuds/standupfuckingtall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>wow okay first fanfic gotta keep it cool gotta keep it neat</p>
<p>it sounds a bit boring but i hope it gets better. also sorry it's so short i can't concentrate for that long anyway.</p>
<p>also, Percy is a code name for a girl i know, who uses they pronouns.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Migraines and Thoughts of a Scriptwriter

**Author's Note:**

> wow okay first fanfic gotta keep it cool gotta keep it neat
> 
> it sounds a bit boring but i hope it gets better. also sorry it's so short i can't concentrate for that long anyway.
> 
> also, Percy is a code name for a girl i know, who uses they pronouns.

"CUT! CUT!!"

Sighs, groans, rolling eyes; the usual. The crew could do all of them simultaneously now. Nothing could be better than sitting in 38-degree heat for four hours watching the same dumb actors make the same dumb mistakes; and it wasn't like this day was going to end very soon either. Why couldn't they have hired the ones with  _ some _ sort of experience under their belts instead of these...amateurs with  _ no  _ experience?Of course they fully understood _why_ they were hired: chiselled features, tall, muscular bodies, nice face, etc. etc., but what they  didn't get was  _ how _ they were hired. Acting is such a simple job, let alone actually listening to the director about what you should be doing.

They excused themselves from the set, murmuring about migraines and pills and hydration, unable to tolerate the visions of the result of their movie. They staggered to the tent - the more dramatic the better - and managed to sit themselves down, just as the director yelled for everyone to get back to the bus. Well, it wasn't really a bus. More like a van. But even on the first day on set, no one could care. The kit was lugged along the dust, thrown into the boot; the crew did much the same with themselves. They sat down on the burning passenger seat.

"Hey Percy, heard you had a migraine, do you want some paracetamol?"

They shook their head. At least if they returned to studio, they'd be able to see how the orchestra was getting on. Hopefully, they would have completed more work than  they had.


	2. Show-off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conductor is a fabulous show-off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percy is a code name for a girl i know who uses they pronouns.  
> The conductor, whose code name used in the fic is yet to be revealed, is a girl i know who uses she pronouns.

"Aahhh, how about we try this, I'll try and compose some melodies and stuff overnight, hand them to you guys, and we all have a vote for which one is the best? Wait what do you mean 'That's not how it works'? Oh nevermind, let's just go from the beginni-."

As Percy entered the auditorium, they heard a loud clanging noise in the orchestra pit, followed by muffled swearing. Silence. Percy shuffled to the furthermost seat from the pit, in the corner so the musicians wouldn't get distracted. They watched as someone, a girl their age with longish hair, replaced a bass drum that she had most probably tripped over. She grinned. It was a somewhat mischievous grin; something you'd see in combination with wild eyes and bold attitudes. They weren't sure where they had got that idea from. Maybe it was just another 'idea fart', as they called it, for another character.

"Alright, that was pretty fabulous. Let's go again from the start of bar 19, bit slower this time." 

So  _she_ was the conductor and executive of the soundtrack. The girl brushed herself off and counted in. The orchestra began, and the girl started conducting them. It wasn't the worst thing Percy had heard; and considering how this was day one on set, they had progressed quickly. To be entirely honest, they were jealous. 

The orchestra came to a controlled stop. As much as Percy wanted to clap, they didn't dare - exposing themselves wasn't an option. 

The conductor started talking, rather animatedly, again.

"Hey uuuh, you! The guy on the second row of violins in the shorts and weird purple glasses! You need to play a bit more, uh, you know, nicely? Yeah."

The 'guy on the second row of violins in the shorts and the weird purple glasses' looked offended, and rolled his eyes. The conductor saw it. She walked straight to him at such a fast pace, Percy was afraid that she was going to slap him. Fortunately, she didn't.  _ Un_fortunately, she took his violin.

"You see, you kinda play it like..."

The conductor started playing. It was a mere few seconds, but it was beautiful all the same. The colour, the texture, and the emotion that managed to contain itself to a few bars was amazing yet somewhat frightening. The conductor handed the violin back. Purple Glasses stared. The conductor stared back, with a fake, mocking intensity in her eyes, and walked over to the next row, making her way to a lady with a clarinet. She talked to her, picked her clarinet from her hands, played just as beautifully as she had with the violin, carefully wiped its reed, and proceeded to the next musician, or victim, to be more precise.

This carried on until the conductor had hunted her way around the entire orchestra, and when she had finally returned to their place at the head of the orchestra, she ordered for them to play from the beginning of the piece. The second time was more successful, although not perfect. The conductor distinctly commented on the fabulousness of everyone's playing, grabbed her messenger bag and left. The orchestra, and most of all Percy, was left staring.


	3. grin what grin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy bumps into the conductor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percy is the code name is a girl i know who uses they pronouns.  
> the conductor, whose code name is yet to be revealed in the fic, is a girl i know who uses she pronouns.

Of course the conductor had to be tall, athletic, and a quiet walker. Percy darted along the corridors of the studio. They needed to find her, and whether it was out of recognition, awe, or both, they neither knew nor cared. They hadn't exercised in quite a while. Obviously. Being a skinny, quiet girl, sports never linked arms with them and skipped into the sunset with them. But they wanted to find that conductor. They turned a corner and...

BAM.  
  
Percy found themselves on the floor, a common acquaintance in times of panic and despair. They opened their eyes and found that they was lying on the floor, completely spread-eagled, whilst the conductor blankly watched. Great. Absolutely great. Now they needed to apologise, pick themselves back up, and scurry away into the shadows. They began to dust themselves off, but only before the conductor said,  
  
"You know I could hear you, right? Like I wasn't even trying, you were wheezing like mad while you were running."  
  
The conductor stretched out a hand towards them to help them up. Percy took it gingerly. It was dry and coarse, with fingernails downtrodden to the beds; but it was warm and firm, and seemed like something they could trust. The conductor pulled them up off the ground so that Percy stood next to her, but a head shorter.   
  
"So what were you doing, running after me? Did the director send for you to get me? Or did you find my vast talents so amazing that you just had to get my autograph?"  
  
The conductor was doing the thing again. You know. The grinny thing where you knew she was being mockingly full of herself but at the same time being full of herself, and her knowing that you knew that she was actually full of herself? It was hard to explain. ' _But Percy, you have a degree in English, you're supposed to be able to summarise this kind of stuff and put it into words_.' complained their subconsciousness. It didn't matter.They had the time to choke out,  
  
"No I-I just thought I knew you from somewhere."  
  
Where were these lies coming from? They braced themselves for some kind of laughter or denial.  
  
"Actually, I think you're right. I definitely know you from somewhere, especially that exasperated running-wheeze."  
  
What. That was offensive but what.  
  
"Aren't you... Aaahh, can't remember the exact name... Percival? Pierce? Nope? Percy? Yep (she clapped), there we go. Percy. Didn't we go to the same secondary school? I wasn't friends with you that much but I remember you at least _existing_ within the same year as me..."  
  
Something flickered in their mind. A pointed face with that same grin they saw in front of themselves right now. _The_ grin.


	4. Lowkey Stalking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percy is the code name for a girl i know who uses they pronouns.  
> the conductor, whose code name is yet to be revealed in the fic, is a girl i know who uses she pronouns.
> 
> also sorry it's kinda short

It had been a week since the 'accident'. Percy was still digging through dusty cardboard boxes of old memories and photos, and phoning their mother back home about the things that they had apparently 'tossed in a bin bag and thrown out the window' not 5 years ago. They searched Facebook, but no results from there either. They had no leads whatsoever, and collapsed back onto their tiny bed in their tiny apartment, breathing in the dust.  
  
It was not until three days later, that they discovered, out of pure luck, who the conductor was. They were browsing through their old school's website, casually stalking teachers who were there in their time, until they dug up old records which stated who went to which university to study whatever. Percy clicked their mouse in anticipation: there were only 3 entries to an arts school in the year that they had left school, and two were working on the other side of the globe. The conductor's name was Alex. Alex Marakovich, who received the Music Prize in Sixth form for her attendance and love for music. It could only be her, of course. The photograph of her holding the prize, a magnificent gold treble cleff,  was identical to her now.


	5. Does This Count As Dedication?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy unexpectedly meets Alex in the auditorium.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percy is the code name for a girl i know who uses they pronouns.  
> Alex is the code name for a girl i know who uses she pronouns.

After another day of sitting in unbearable heat, wishing death upon the casting director, and just wanting to scream in general, Percy returned to the studio. They wanted to find Alex. Maybe to just talk about the four-year gap between starting university and now.

They opened the door to the auditorium, expecting to hear the orchestra (i.e. Alex playing every instrument's part by herself), but found the room dark and empty. They flicked on the lights. It took a while for all the lights to turn on, but once they were, they emitted a warm glow.

Percy slowly paced around. No one was sitting in the seats, and it didn't sound like anyone was going to be either, from how she could only hear her footsteps and not anyone else's approaching ones. They walked up and down the the rows of seats - of course, they would be able to see if someone was sitting there, but they wanted to make sure all the same, just in case they were hiding - but found no one. They were somewhat disappointed, although not being entirely sure about why, and made their way down the stairs to the door. On the final set of steps down to the exit, they thought, ' _What about in the orchestra pit?_ '. They immediately went to investigate. Her heart pumped fast in hope of finding her. She ran across the floor, to the stairs leading into the pit...  
  
"BOO."

Percy jumped. Or dramatically fell, either way it was the same. Once back on ground they swivelled their head around, terrified. Until they finally realised that Alex had hid just beneath the edge of the orchestra pit, specifically so that she could scare them out of their wits, specifically so that they couldn't see her. The pang of annoyance which resulted from this conclusion calmed them down.

Alex brandished a Sharpie and a piece of card with an illegible squiggle and a drawing of a boat. 

"I knew you'd come looking for me some day, so I signed a piece of card for you and sat in the pit just by the edge and waited every day for you to come. And today you did, which is good, because you can now get the piece of card with my signature."

Alex beamed. Her 'beaming' was just her grin twice as wide across her face, and her standing on her toes and raising her chin. Was it supposed to be condescending? Percy had no idea. 

Percy took the card. Alex looked at them, as if expecting they make a criticism of her squiggle and boat, or to thank her.

Percy did neither.

Percy ran out of the auditorium, annoyance and screams in their chest. What the heck was that encounter supposed to be? And the boat and squiggly lines thing? They turned corners; right, left, left. A few doors too. They could hear them closing shut behind them and then opening again moments later. Shit.

"You know I can just listen to your wheezing and keep track, you're not losing me anytime soon."

For fuck's sake, they didn't need their faulty lungs being rubbed in their face. Another corner, and...

Percy manages to slam the brakes to come face to face with the director. Or, to be more accurate, face to chest considering how small they were. Alex soon caught up. She mumbled a "Fabulous." before coughing and then straightening up to shake hands with the director. What was the deal? Were they friends already? ' _But Percy, you've both been on set for more than two weeks, of course they're friends or whatever._ ' They also didn't need their lack of social life being rubbed into their face either.

The two started talking. Did that mean that Percy was irrelevant in the conversation? Yes. They began to quickly walk back down the corridor, but was halted by a call of their name by the director's booming voice.

"Oho, Percival ("Percy", corrected Percy), my main man!" he smacked his giant hand on their back; perhaps it was an over exaggerated pat, perhaps it was a death blow to Percy's spine. "I would like to introduce you to Alex" he continued and motioned to her, who smiled and waved, "because I would like both of you to work together on the movie score. As you both know well I expect the most outstanding results (he raised his bushy eyebrows and looked them both in the eye - one nodded vigorously, the other cowered in fear), so you must work hard as a team! We expect the score to be finished in three months, since Alex over here is an exceptional musician. Good luck, both of you!" The director began to walk away, twirling his lanyard full of VIP passes around his stout finger. Percy and Alex were left standing and staring at each other.

"So, d'you wanna go back to the studio or grab a coffee and then go, or..."

"I don't want to do it."

"Why."

"I know that you are perfectly capable of composition without the help of a 5 foot 3 twig with an English degree."

"Aren't you like, 5 foot 2 though."

That was it. Weird autographs were one thing, commenting on her size was another. Percy couldn't take it anymore. They pushed past Alex (although this proved ineffective) and turned the corner, but a certain "HEY!" stopped them in their tracks and brought them back. It was the director again. This time he was grinning wider than before. Oh god.

"Just so you know, you'll both be expecting a pay rise of minimum £1000 if you cooperate. The better results you present, the more you get. Chop chop!"

Percy glared at Alex. Alex beamed from ear to ear.

"I hope you know how much I hate you."


	6. The Conference Definitely Went Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Alex discuss what they are going to do at the coffee station in the studio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Percy and Alex are both code names for girls I know in real life. 
> 
> Percy uses they/them pronouns.  
> Alex uses she/her pronouns.

The coffee tasted strange this week. 6/10. It was too watery and wishy-washy and the milk did nothing but to just get diluted. They found coffee grains at the bottom of the paper cup. 5/10. Stupid interns couldn’t even make coffee right. But of course, at this day and age, you don’t make instant coffee at home; your parents are rich enough to give you some pocket money for good old Starbucks. Percy sighed. They could feel her intense gaze bearing down on them from above. If the coffee’s main purpose was to distract people from their huge issues through means of terrible taste, it definitely wasn’t working. Why did she have to stare like that, like she was inspecting them, trying to find imperfections in their skin or whatever? It was way too much of a patronising look. They stole a glace over the rim of their coffee cup as they sipped the brownish concoction, and hastily averted their eyes; she was _still_ staring. Was it even possible for humans to stare this long? Well, Alex wasn’t exactly human, more like an intense musical nerd with annoyingly long limbs, so they guessed that kind of explained.

Alex finally broke the silence. Not in a good way though.

“Hey so do you still have that autograph I gave you, I kinda need to colour the sails and the boat in.”

“We’re here so we can discuss ideas and therefore get more money and therefore so I can pay for my fucking rent; of course I don’t have your autograph.”

“Well that’s kinda rude…”

They didn’t mean for it to be rude, they just wanted to get it done and over with.

They both simultaneously slipped into silence again, taking swigs from their coffee mugs. Alex’s mug had a crappy drawing of a trombone in the middle, with the label “Sackbutius Tootius”. Percy gagged, at which point Alex started looking slightly concerned.

“What’re you drowning for?”

“I wasn’t…? trying to drown? I just read your mug and thought that it was funny…”

“I mean it’s not _that_ funny, Dylan got it for me and I just decided to keep it because who can bother to spend another £5 on a shitty mug…” Alex trailed off, and seemed to drift off before snapping back and asking, “So what are we actually going to do?”

Even Percy didn’t know, and they usually had their shit together most of the time.

“I honestly don’t know… like most of the stuff is meant to be really over-the-top, so I don’t really know how you could translate…”

“No no no I meant what are we supposed to be doing because I _totally_ wasn’t listening to the director. Who gives a fuck about him, huh?”

And here, a revisit to why Percy hated Alex. They murmured a response about working together to get the vibe of the music down and the reward being more money, to which Alex swiftly replied, “Oh I don’t need your help, I’ll be fine trust me, you can just go back to your little old business of worrying about bills and taxes and leave it” she set her cup down on the counter of the coffee station, “to the professional.”

She was gone in two strides. 


	7. Cold Fucking Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> time to get productive kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it's been a while here's a chapter lick that hand stick it in a ziplock bag of fundip you mad animal
> 
> Percy and Alex are both code names for girls I know in real life.
> 
> Percy uses they/them pronouns.  
> Alex uses she/her pronouns.

In all honesty, all Percy could do for the next week was to worry about the rent and tax and Alex and…Did they say they were worried about Alex? Because they weren’t. They totally were not concerned about a stuck-up musician with no clue as to what she really needed to do. It’s not like the director would notice anyway - he couldn’t be bothered to check in on anyone but himself – so it was a win-win situation for the both of them; Percy wouldn’t have to deal with Alex’s unbearable arrogance, and Alex wouldn’t have to listen to anyone. Not that she listened to anyone anyway.

They paced around their room, nibbling tentatively at a carrot stick. Why a carrot stick, do you ask? How should they know? Anyway, onto the more pressing conditions…Should they be doing this? This…this taking leave of all responsibility and leaving the work ‘to the professional’? Because it wasn’t as if Percy could help Alex in any way. They’d only played the oboe a bit in secondary school, like _that_ would give them any experience about the world of music and composing music or whatever. Alex had taken a _degree_ in the musical field. Nothing within their experience could match that, even if they tried. So that was a no. But what about morally? She was getting a raise from the director for working with Alex, which she hadn’t even attempted to do from the very start, after they had had their little conversation by the coffee station. It would be rude if Alex did all the work and Percy still got half the credit. They hoped Alex knew that it would turn out that way, but considering her level of pride, she probably wouldn’t care. Yeah. She wouldn’t care, would she?

Percy flopped onto their bed, surrounded by taunting letters from the government and leftovers from yesterday’s frozen pizza and her phone buzzing from all the texts her mother was sending her about water bills and eating healthy. Maybe they were thinking too much. Humans are simple creatures. They were going to be fine. They could get that raise and pay off all the fucking debts they were drowning in since their first year of university. Who cares about stupid Alex the Professional?

Percy jolted awake to her phone buzzing. Was it another pesky text from her mother? No-one else would text her so early in the morning. They murmured and blindly patted around on the floor for her glasses, finding it tucked away in her jacket. They put them on (nearly poking their eye out in the process) and checked her messages on her phone.

A sequence of numbers dotted the screen. This sender wasn’t on their contacts. Was this just a scam message? Their eyes flicked to the message, searching for clues as to who it was from. The message read, “Good morning Percy. Just wanted to ask as to why you haven’t clocked in to studio for the past week? And why no-one has seen you around studio at all?? Because in case you’ve forgotten, you’re supposed to be working with Alex, so unless you want that raise revoked, I’d get cracking if I were you. Slightly disappointed (followed by a wink emoji), Your Boss (followed by a smiley face).” Their eyes suddenly jerked from half-closed to wide and fully awake.

Oh shit. Oh shit shit shit.

They didn’t know if it was because of their morals, or because of bad reference, or because of the huge pile of paperwork they hadn’t bothered to do on their desk. They just straight-up bolted out of the door with the leftover pizza in hand to catch the bus to the studio. How could they have been so stupid? Ugh, nothing was going anything like they’d dreamed. Nothing ever did. Maybe they should just lower their expectations. Why did they just not do that in the first place?

The doors swung open and they were out and immediately in the studio. Clocking in, eating the cold fucking pizza, trying not to kill anyone or be killed by the weird doors you needed ID for, saying hi to people that they vaguely knew, finally turning to rush into the orchestra pit, trying not to wheeze or whatever…

A soft thud and a slight pain in their head and back (gently) reminded them to always fucking look up. Because Alex was there again. How ironic, their expectations were higher than they literally were. They should really lower their expectations now. Or maybe get rid of it altogether, because when Alex offered them a hand for the second time Percy was just happy; it was the best thing that had happened so far in sequence to threats of a pay cut from their boss, having to eat cold fucking pizza, and nearly trapping her bag between the doors of the bus. Didn’t that sound strange. The hand was much the same as when they had met last time: still cold, bony but strong, and calloused and dry. The only difference was a small Hello Kitty plaster on the tip of her middle finger. The image of Alex flipping someone off with a Hello Kitty plaster on her middle finger was only slightly amusing. What was less amusing was that they were giggling hysterically at the thought. In front of Alex. A great way to start their actual first session together. Alex only stared a little.

They both made their way down to the orchestra pit.


End file.
